Here at McKeon Stone we quarry some of the best limestone on our planet. Our Kilkenny Blue Limestone is sought after by some of the world’s most talented sculptors as their material of choice when creating sublime works of art. As such, we were delighted to learn that our stunning Kilkenny Blue Limestone was featured at the “on form – Sculpture in Stone” exhibition, the UK’s only art exhibition dedicated exclusively to stone sculpture.

The on form exhibition is held every two years at Asthall Manor. Asthall Manor is a gabled Jacobean manor house set deep in the heart of the Cotswolds and was the childhood home of the Mitford sisters. The garden covers six acres, including traditional herbaceous borders and lawns, contemporary parterres and areas of breath-taking wildflowers and wild woodland where sculptors gather to showcase some of the best modern sculpture in stone. Our Kilkenny Blue Limestone was the material of choice for several of this year’s sculptors such as Dominic Welch , Luke Dickenson , Bridget Mc Crum , Jason Mulligan, Alison Mumby , Guy Stevens , Anthony Turner , Lucy Unwin , Alyosha Moeran. and Jantien Kahn.

One of these sculptors, Alison Munby, was showcasing her giant woodlouse created from limestone quarried at McKeon Stone nestled amongst the wildflowers for all to see. Alison, who has no formal training in sculpture originally worked in the on form office and was inspired when the opportunity to try stone sculpting at a workshop with Guy Stephens arose. Encouraged by other sculptors and curators, Alison attended Dartmoor Arts Project where she was tutored by David Brampton-Greene and she has since had several exhibitions across the UK.

The Giant Woodlouse exhibit is Alison’s first to be included at the on form event and demonstrates perfectly how Alison is inspired by mathematical patterns such as the Fibonacci Sequence, the Golden Ration and Pi to use geometric patterns which appear in nature to create dynamic and intricate surfaces in her works. The timeless quality of Kilkenny Blue Limestone is the ideal material for Alison to produce sculptures which evoke our connection with the natural landscape around us.